For most people, the word eclairs is associated exclusively with cakes. But, logically thinking, we can conclude that you can put any filling into the shell from the dough - and you get not a dessert, but a tasty and convenient snack. And if you build eclairs with caviar, especially with red, then it’s a delicacy at all. Since you can’t buy ready-made “pockets” for filling in the store, before you stuff the eclairs, you have to make a dough for them. We warn you right away: it’s capricious, so it may not succeed the first time. Do not despair: a little experience, and preparing eclairs will be almost as easy as sandwiches.
Choux pastry
Its composition without fail includes butter. Some chefs replace it with margarine. It is a valid replacement if you are firmly confident in its quality. However, this product is required a little, so it is better not to be greedy and prepare the dough for eclairs in oil. A not-so-large pan is taken, one and a half glasses of water are poured into it, into which a 100-gram whetstone of oil is placed (you can chop it up to speed up the process) and salt. When the contents boil, and the butter melts, the container is removed from the fire and a half cup of flour is poured into it (constantly stir!). The dish returns to the quietest fire again and heats up (do not stop stirring) until the dough thickens. After it cools down to 60 degrees, 5 eggs are broken in turn, and after each mass must be well ground. Since our dough is for eclairs of eateries, not dessert, you can add half a glass of grated cheese and a little nutmeg with red pepper to it - it will be even tastier. The output is a thick, but loose cake.
Baking Secrets
Whatever you intend to stuff your eclairs, the shell is baked separately. The dough is picked up with a spoon and laid out on a baking sheet covered with parchment or parchment at a sufficient distance from each other: it increases in size from the temperature. The sheet is placed at the very bottom at a temperature of 220 degrees. After ten minutes, it drops to 200, and home eclairs are aged in the oven for another quarter of an hour. Then the oven turns off and the door remains closed. After about five minutes it opens slightly, but the sheet does not come out. You can get the pan when the workpieces have cooled a little, otherwise they will settle. You can save the settled ones by returning to the still hot oven. When baking, do not open the door, move or shake the sheet - spoil the baking.
Herring filling
First, we describe the budget option - eclairs with caviar, which is not a delicacy. About six slightly salted herring fillets are taken, all bones are removed from them, and the meat is passed through a meat grinder together with three processed cheeses (as an option - a glass of grated cheese), butter (200 g, put in advance in the freezer, at least for 15 minutes) and fresh herbs - parsley and onion feathers. The filling is whipped to perfection with a mixer or blender, transferred to a confectionery syringe and distributed over already cooled shells. They will need to make a small incision on the side for this. Until the time comes to serve snacks, the dish on which the eclairs with caviar lie should be refrigerated.
Expensive and delicious: red caviar filling
The appetizer shells are baked in the manner described above. Unless, perhaps, make them slightly larger so that it is more convenient to stuff. As an option - spread the dough not in circles, but in elongated sausages. To start the eclairs (photo), the cut will have to be made longer - the filling will be put in with a spoon. First, a piece of butter is put into the shell, around it is red caviar, on top, near the cut, there is a small sprig of dill or parsley. For a change, you can put a thin slice of lemon or a circle of cherry into the cut. By the way, many housewives recommend baking eclairs with caviar of red fish from rye flour - they believe that such a dough is more in harmony with the filling. The ratio of products and the principle of creation are no different from a recipe that uses wheat flour.
Fish plus caviar
As a companion in eclairs with caviar, something like salmon, salmon or trout is more suitable. It is most harmonious to buy salted fish - or to add fresh salt yourself, then you need to take care of this the day before, per day. To do this, salmon is cut with almost transparent plates and sprinkled with plenty of salt. It’s not worth worrying about the overfishing: the fish will take as much as necessary. In a sealed container in the refrigerator, salting occurs quickly. However, some cooks also use smoked fish, choosing not too fat for these purposes. The purchased fillet is cut into thin slices, the butter is cut in the same plates, and in the eclairs (photo), first the butter, then the fish, and the third layer - caviar are laid. A sprig of dill for beauty - and you can have a bite of champagne. On New Year's Day, on a name day or on a wedding anniversary, no one will come up with a better snack!